"No doubt..." - Scott Parker's Sheffield United play-off verdict after Burnley, Leeds United edge tight battle

Scott Parker has backed Sheffield United to join his Burnley side in the Premier League next season - after officially ending their faint automatic promotion hopes last night. The Blades and Burnley have gone toe-to-toe in the promotion race all season, with Leeds United completing a trio of standout teams in the division.

A race that threatened to go right to the end was decided in Leeds and Burnley’s favour after a horror run of three successive defeats for the Blades which ultimately consigned them to the play-offs, with their third-placed finish confirmed after a 2-1 defeat at Turf Moor on Monday evening.

That result confirmed that Leeds and Burnley will both play Premier League football next season, and both can still finish on 100 points for the season if they win both of their remaining games.

For the Blades there are at least two extra matches bolted onto the end of a campaign that can still finish memorably, although the club’s miserable play-off record - with no successes in nine attempts - is hardly inspiring too much confidence amongst the United fanbase.

Asked about the promotion battle between United, Leeds and his side, Parker told The Star: “We’ve all been jabbing away at each other, haven’t we? There have been three teams just punching away. All three of us.

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“I don’t know how many points they [United] will finish on, or even what they’re on now, but they’ll probably finish on a points tally which, in any other year, would be justifiable to get promoted. This year there have been three outstanding teams and two have managed to get over the line.”

Asked if he would back United in the play-offs, Parker responded: “Yeah, they’re a strong team. They’ve got an incredible manager who knows his way around it, and I have absolutely no doubt that they’ll be more than fine.”

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United travelled to Turf Moor knowing they had to win to keep their top-two hopes alive but fell behind to Josh Brownhill’s goal, before Tom Cannon dragged them back level with his first in United colours. But Burnley nudged themselves back in front again just before the break, Brownhill converting again from the spot after Anel Ahmedhodzic had fouled Hannibal, and there was no way back for the Blades.

“Sheffield United probably came here with an understanding they needed to win the game, and I think you probably could see that from the line-up,” Parker added.”There were a lot of attacking players on the field.

“They were going to put it in areas which were going to try and stress us but we dealt with that very, very well. We nudged away and we were well worthy of winning the game at half-time. I'm absolutely delighted and buzzing that we managed to get the job done tonight.

“I think I came into this game understanding the dynamics of it and had a full focus on trying to get a result like we have done throughout this year. I'm just delighted for everyone at the football club, really.”